


-20.937311, 164.658450

by sumptuous



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Agender Character, Atlas (Borderlands) - Freeform, Canon-Typical Violence, Characters Added As They Appear - Freeform, Other, Ratings and warnings may change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-10
Updated: 2019-05-26
Packaged: 2020-02-29 11:07:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18777040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sumptuous/pseuds/sumptuous
Summary: love, death & Zer0





	1. Wake-up Call

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lots of inspirations, most of those are obvious in the fic. i really hope this turns out long and i dont give up on it, i really enjoy writing as it seems.

It was not unusual for Zero to vanish without warning. Nobody could read them; nothing could be dug up about their past or themselves so everyone just stopped worrying, especially when they would always return from their unknown expeditions around Pandora. What the Sanctuary-residing Vault Hunters closer to the assassin (i.e. have been the original pack that opened a Vault with them) noticed is they started bringing back knick knacks and souvenirs for them. Guns for everyone (the rarest usually were for Salvador), scrap and rare parts that Gaige would gladly use as advancements on Deathtrap or her many projects, hell even some B&B figurines for Lilith and the exact same hair dye for Maya was using (she was  _sure_  they found her stash and knew she was running low) in batches. Nobody knew how and where they found these things and even though they were suspicious that Zero had found a way to fast travel to Elpis and didn’t share, the residents of the Crimson Raiders’ HQ were extremely grateful.

So when one day Gaige woke up to a pile of unknown and weird-looking metal scrap at the feet of her bed, she was surprised to say the least. Looks like Zero had returned from their mission while she was asleep. She stood up, stretched and sat on the wheeled stool nearby, rolling towards her bed, eager to examine her presents. But as time passed, she became nothing but confused. So she decided to put some things in order in her head.

First of all; this wasn’t just scrap. She quickly realized not only was she holding alien handiwork but alien  _tech_. She rarely had the chance to find and/or study any kind of alien technology and had a hard time understanding it. So these were extremely rare. As a second thought, Gaige started handling it more delicately, as if it would burst into flames if she toyed with the parts too much.

Secondly, these were of Eridian origin. Even if she knew little about it, she could identify the circuits and the markings on it as such.

 Thirdly, there were one, two, three -- 7 parts which were motherboards of some kind, each shaped differently and protected by a cover, its material weirdly soft but hard and probably heat resistant, letting air flow through them, stabilizing the temperature. They vaguely looked and  _felt_  … organ like. Especially the last one of the pile, reassembling an organic heart, which she left for last. She picked it up gingerly but her eye caught something- a yellowing piece of paper right under where the heart laid on the sheets.

 Setting the heart on the bed again she picked the paper up. A tiny envelope of shorts but, of course, an origami one.  Rolling her eyes she pulled the tab and unfolded it slowly, careful not to rip it.

_30.541634, 47.825445_

_Safe and sound_

_Tell nobody about this_

_I will be waiting_

-

It wasn’t that Zero was  _oh-so_  mysterious, because Gaige knew their antics; it was that they never left a note. To anyone. And this was an invitation, just for her, something that didn’t make her feel special or happy that they would listen and appreciate to the famous ramblings of Gaige when they spent time in her workshop cleaning their guns, whatsoever. She shook her head, smiling.

Putting the coordinates in the ECHOmap for Pandora and kicking into her clothes while waiting for it to load (Of course there wasn’t  _any_  fucking signal in her garage), she packed her stuff and the parts in her backpack and rushed to the window, noticing that it was open. There is absolutely no reason to go down the stairs and out the door ( _especially_  when you had a big mouth and didn’t trust yourself not to spill the beans to whoever was curious enough to ask where you were going. Not to mention  _Tannis_ ) when you could just jump out the window and run on the rooftops, and looks like Zero agrees too.

Jumping down just before Scooter’s and not-hiding her face around the general garage area because she totally borrowed his favorite toolbox and totally forgets to return it every time, she runs for the town square and the fast travel station. Her destination was about 30 miles south Arid Nexus next to a river so the plan was to fast travel and then drive.

-

The choice at the Catch-A-Ride station was easy; a personalized Runner (installed car radio and sound system; the mod was a birthday gift from Scooter) with a Hypnosis paint job so she could speed boost all the way and get there in no time and look  _cool_. Hopefully only to rakks.

The vehicle digistructed and she climbed in, already jamming a USB into the ancient port, turning the volume up all the way before the song even started. This was one of the reasons Gaige loved driving especially alone. Her peace and quiet was music so loud you couldn’t hear yourself, something that in Sanctuary wasn’t tolerable and she tried to understand that. But, eh, you know. It gets boring.

The thing with the USBs was another story. Spending so much time with a man who loved antiques almost as much as zoology had more benefits than she anticipated. Hammerlock gave her a ziploc bag, a whole collection of little sticks filled with music which was borderline ancient by now, followed with  _“I shall pass these masterpieces to the younger generation; it is a pity to withhold such information. Besides, I have memorized them by now; Pandora has no record shops whatsoever. Ugh.”_. So she went through them one by one, the genres each time different and most of the times enjoyable.

The current one had two faded scribbles on its tag.  _Daft Punk_.

“Sounds familiar.” She smiled to no one in particular, and floored it.

-

By the time she reached the river she was halfway through the first album. She stood up while the runner was still speeding to check for bandits first, then for buildings.

There was nothing but a pack of skags drinking water and a rusting Dahl shipwreck in the river, lying on its side. She came to a halt by the riverbank, at a safe distance from the skags, and pulled her echo out of the backpack. She wasn’t wrong about the location. So she zoomed in on the map and realized that the exact location was the ship itself. This normally meant swimming, but not when you had a floating pet robot four times your size at your disposal.

With a plan in mind she jumped out of the Runner, summoning Deathtrap.

“Hey baby! Did you sleep well?” she cooed.

Deathtrap just stared at her, but she knew he was content. She may not be the best at coding AIs but she did install a simplistic (or rather messy) mood program she wrote herself. And right now, Gaige felt Deathtrap was happy.

“Okay then, I have a job for you. Just a minor one, for now” she whispered the last part. “I need you to carry me on your shoulders and get me there” she pointed toward the ship. “Think you can handle it, boo?”

He nodded as much as a mass of screws and metal could nod, but Gaige always understood him. She smiled at friend as he lowered himself for her to start climbing up his shoulders. Deathtrap started floating effortlessly towards the wrecked ship, as Gaige took out her trusty SMG out the bag and got comfy on the robots shoulders. Who knew getting a piggyback ride from a robot would be so nice? They don’t even get tired.  

As they got closer she scanned the ship also keeping in mind the water underneath. Deathtrap slowed down as they reached the ship waiting for approval to climb on and Gaige patted his shoulder, eyes focused completely on the now horizontal passenger deck doors.

“Anyone here?” No answer.

She climbed down Deathtrap, SMG still held tight but not in panic, besides, no ambush can faze Gaige anymore except-

Zero’s.

Of course, she forgot with who she was dealing with.

She jumped as she turned around, Zero standing right where she was mere seconds ago. How did they sneak behind her anyway? She was standing on the edge of the ship. Did they fucking swim and climb the ledge?  

“Shit—don’t do that!”she side glanced to check Deathtrap, who was completely calm and not at all on edge. This meant he knew all along. Damn him and his semi conscious AI. Thank goodness he can’t smirk, the humiliation would be unbearable.

“I checked everywhere! How the fuck did you do that?”

They just flashed an emoticon sticking their tongue out at her and jumped down towards the rusty doorways, with trained little huffs and groans that sounded neither tired nor real. Coming out of  _real_  lungs. Gaige had realized this long ago but no matter how many questions she had, Zer0 shared almost nothing about themselves.

“Hey wait—“

Zer0 held onto the rusting doorframe, the vertical deck of the cargo ship not terrifying them at all.

Gaige jumped on Deathtrap’s back, not bothering to climb on his shoulders, as they ascended down where Zer0 was guiding them. When her feet touched leaning ground, she nodded and snapped her metal fingers at Deathtrap, causing him to de-digistructed himself towards the ground, getting the memo that he wasn’t going to be needed anymore.

The redhead tried to balance on the tilting room, hoping she would lose her footing in front of her ninja friend. Friend? She wasn’t sure. Maybe more of an acquaintance; they didn’t really open up about anything. They mainly expressed their desire for better challenges and sometimes they even shared their ideals and techniques. Yeah, there was some banter and some quickly flashed emoticons but that’s all there was.

Sometimes she wished they would at least drop the haiku shtick. Especially when you’re out at Moxxi’s with the group, eating pizza like a bunch of starving skags, the whole cryptic thing makes things awkward.

But today they’ve been acting weird. The “:P” emoticon her only greeting after nearly 2 weeks of absence, the shady location, and the Eridian tech—she forgot about that.

What was happening? 

She scanned the room expecting them to wait for her but they were nowhere to be seen. So she continued for the next, hand guiltily twitching on the gun hanging from her combat belt.

The next room was wide and empty, probably already scavenged and robbed of its contents, empty boxes lying around, illuminated by the broken windows, now on the ceiling. In the distance her eyes caught a mass, covered by a dirty sheet.

If they were playing this game, so be it. She needed answers and she was going to get them.

Cautiously circling the covered object or even threat, she stepped closer and pointed her Sub towards it. She hesitatingly nudged with the barrel, pulling the sheet downwards. She took a panicked step backwards with her heart pushing its way to her throat.

It was headless and its guts were missing, but strangely not organic. What scared her the most was that this body was _Zer0’s._ The build was identical, four digits on each hand, unnaturally tall and slim, and even without the head, she knew it was _them_.

“It cannot do harm,/ I have removed its power source./ Feel free to ask me.”

Gaige didn’t make the effort of turning around and suddenly had a rough idea of the situation.

“You’re Eridian?” Zer0 nodded, now in her peripheral vision.

“You have been searching, haven’t you? About your origin. You’re an android right? How the fuck haven’t I noticed?”  she kicked a metal rod in frustration and Zer0 chuckled “ I feel so dumb right now, sorry.” Their silence meant they waited for her to continue.

“So you found _this_ , gutted it and brought its insides to me. Why though, are you some kind of cat AI?” her she teased them. Zer0 looked exasperated. She smirked and draped her arm the shoulder of the corpse “ _Aw_ , you want me to examine it? That’s so _sweet_ of you Zer0—it really _is_! That you think so highly of me that is. I mean; I _am_ the best mechanic you could find on Pandora--”

Gaige might have kicked herself mentally when she caught herself acting a fool and basically mocking her friend for asking for her opinion on the a matter she was completely uneducated upon. The assassin needed her help but if she didn’t shut her runny little  mouth any time soon she was going to lose the opportunity of a lifetime.

‘…But I have absolutely no info on Eridian technology. Sorry.” Zer0’s only response was “:|” .

“Don’t look at me like that, like—“she widened her eyes and mimicked their previous expression. “I really don’t. So unless you bring me a translated textbook I can’t help you. You--you could ask Tannis?” she offered hopelessly. They flashed her a frowning emoticon.

Gaige sighed and sat on one of the wooden ammo boxes.

“What is this place anyway?”

“Closest hideaway,/ the Atlas base is very close./ When shall we begin?”

Gaige sighed before replying “Zer0… I know you’re eager and all, but I have no idea what your point is and it would be a good idea to notify the guys back about this. I didn’t even tell them I’m leaving today,” Zer0 raised their chin as if they were ready to speak again “Can we at least—sit here for a little bit and talk about this situation? And not in iambic pentameter?”

Zer0 did lean back on another container but seemed thoughtful. They sat in silence for a while a Gaige rummaged her bag for a protein bar or two, now sure Zer0 would want the other one, because-duh-they’re an android.

“I planned to bring you here and help me with my investigation, but you ask too many questions. As expected.”

“Hey!-“

“I understand though that my methods are not… common amongst humans and I cannot risk sharing too much,” they explained “I believe I could trust enough to help me with my search.”

Gaige felt like they needed confirmation, so she nodded my a mouthful of granola and crossed her heart after mimicking to zip her mouth. Zer0 continued.

“It had been almost a decade ago when I was hired by a woman, Tungsteena Zarpedon, Colonel of the Lost Legion on Elpis. My mission was to hunt down anyone on Elpis with information on the Vault. My interest was information on the Eridian civilization and most importantly, any connection I had with their technology. When I had acquired everything I wanted, I escaped Elpis and although the Colonel searched for me, no one has enough funds and men to search Pandora extensively. She did increase the bounty on my head, but she is dead now, along with the Lost Legion. “

Gaige hadn’t heard them speak for such a length of time, so she remained silent and overtly curious.

“It’s obvious now why my interest in the Vaults was so strong. After defeating the Warrior I did not joint you in Sanctuary not because of greed for loot, but of knowledge. I found some leads on the consoles there, Atlas bases and laboratories but I am not engrossed with weaponry. Until three weeks prior, my search was fruitless. This Atlas base is about 5 miles east. It has hidden from the company files—most of the analysis and experimentation was conducted there, along with every stolen finds and artifacts from the ancient sites. One of which was them” they nodded towards the figure slumped against the wall. Subject 3. They were addressed in the files as an Eridian diplomats. I suspect there are more Subjects in there, each one deactivated and dissected. What in need you to do for now is go back and study on the parts in delivered to you. I will give you a private ECHO frequency to keep where you can send your conclusions.”

 And then silence. Gaige felt the ball was on her court now.

“Welp-- count me and Deathtrap in. I am ignoring the whole “going back in Sanctuary”-- I’m contacting back home that I’ll be out for, let’s say, bout two weeks-“ But Zer0 had switched back to haiku and spoke over her.

“No, I work alone. /I deliver any finds, /you an-“

“What the fuck are you talking about? No way dude, you’re letting me help you _and_ you got my word won’t talk about this with anyone. And if you’re thinking that I can’t protect myself you are very wrong. _Very_ wrong, Zer0.”

“No.”

”Yup. No, _no_ , don’t look at me like that, not another word. Two brains—um no… consciousnesses? Whatever, _they_ work are better than one. Two guns also.” She smiled hopefully.

“No.”

“Come on, _please_. If I spend another _day_ in Sanctuary sitting on my ass, I _am_ going to blow my brains out. Permanently. Pretty please? With a _giant_ cherry on top?”

They just stared at her, unreadable, no emotion or emoticon on the screen.

“Do you have enough supplies for 24 hours?”

“Really?! Holy shits, adventure time!” she cheered around the room childishly.

“24 hours. No more.”

“Yeah, sure.” She grinned from ear to ear, lying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> holy fucking shit im writing this right after losing an entire day out of my life (slept 19 hours) and im tired. again!  
> if you see something terribly wrong please do share. i hope you enjoy this! see ya on the next one


	2. Descend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AUGHH...... my brain small so mistakes are eminent.

They both crossed the river with Zer0 leading (“Aren’t you gonna fry in the water?” Zer0 didn’t even look back at her. Gaige cringed.) and set foot for the Atlas base westwards. Gaige might have woken up late, but Pandora’s day cycle was nothing like Eden-5’s, which at first glance was great for Gaige (because 94 hour days force consistent sleeping schedules to fuck right off) but 50 hours of sunlight turned out to be torture for Gaige when she set foot on this god forsaken planet. Sunburns and sweat dripping down your shoes was only the start.

At the end of the day, you suck it up and get used to it.

The only thing visible on the horizon after almost an hour was a rundown shack missing a door. Zer0 spoke before Gaige had the chance to express her confusion.

“Nobody lives there, /it’s the entrance to the base, /stay close behind me. “

With a silent okay they stepped in and Gaige watched Zer0 lift the mattress off the floor, revealing a trapdoor. _Cliché._

Climbing down the infinite stairs Gaige stopped to check for service on her ECHO. Just as she expected, none, which usually meant two things, that either her device and/or the signal was shit, or they were approaching a force field that wouldn’t let any frequencies enter. Grand example, Eridian ruins. She shivered at the thought. The fear of the unknown and the curiosity for knowledge were two forces that always clashed inside her and the result was an unreadable, alluring feeling.

“Are you following?” They asked and she snapped out of it.

“Yeah.”

-

 When her boots met industrial metal floor she fixed her clothes and turned around. They apparently were in an aircraft base, rotting and rusting vehicles and machines parked in lines. Gaige eyed Zer0, quietly questioning whether they were safe or not. They nodded.

“Hell yeah!” she shouted, her voice bouncing around the walls of the giant base. This place was basically a playground for her, Atlas machinery and eridian-based tech laying around, ready for her to study and, ehm, _borrow_. But first they had a task at hand.

She tailed after Zer0 and then reached an old elevator. “There is no power, / I can climb upwards but you, / I am not certain.”  

“I can hook up Deathtrap to power up the elevator, don’t sweat.” She summoned him and rummaged around in her backpack for a cable she has used more than once during her stay in Pandora.

Once they descended and stalked around corridors with endless doors they reached a door, all of its locks busted open. They were at an R&D of sorts, experimentation on eridium, eridian guns and tech, but what caught Gaige’s eye was a row of 9 medical tables, 7 of them with motionless bodies laying on them.

All of them were stripped naked and identical to the one on the ship. Identical to Zer0.

“Where is the first one?”

If she could put a name on Zer0’s expression, it would be sadness. Gaige sighed.

“It’s you.”

Zer0 nodded once again.

Gaige knew at least a couple of things more than the majority of people about robots, AI’s and in this case, androids. She knew they had feelings and the more complex the code, the more complex and _real_ the feeling.

“You can talk to me Zer0.” she never really was sympathetic, but she tried.

“I was stolen twice. Once as a relic and then as a trophy. My very first memory was waking up in a basement with a dying old man. He said that he was freeing me, that I was the thing he cared about the most and in his last moments, he wanted to see me work. As if I was his toaster. He freed me after I would be useless to him. I have no recollection of what happened to me in here, but if it wasn’t for this man, I would be sharing the same fate as the others.”

Gaige never cried, about anything. She couldn’t even tear up anymore with the things she had seen. But the feeling of grief was so strong that it made her chest cave in.

“I was a passion project of the man that found me, imprisoned me and then stole me once Atlas collapsed. I was an object to be poked around, even coded to have a speech pattern. I didn’t have a name, I was just a number.” 

Gaige loosely pulled the stiff figure in her arms, trying desperately to offer comfort. “You’re not anymore.” She said into their armor.

“Thank you.”

-

 They continued down chambers and corridors, abandoned offices and terminals (she found a tome with Shakespeare’s works on a desk and tucked it safely in her backpack for a psycho friend of hers; Zer0 flashed a smiley face at that) when they met a large door, already probed open just a little bit.

“So this placed was completely sealed off before you came in? Nobody has scavenged it?”

“Yup.”

That was a first. The whole day even was full of progress from Zer0. Maybe they were too emotional; maybe they couldn’t be assed to be so tight and strict with themselves anymore.

They entered a natural passage, their voices echoing around them as it widened and started glowing purple. Her ECHO acted up, signal twitching between full and zero, so she turned it off.

The ruins were similar to the ones she’d been before, large stones with purple veils glowing through them which she suspected were the source of the fuzzy feeling she always felt around Eridian sites. A few yards later, they were greeted by 9 empty hexagonal plates floating above the ground, with the central one being bigger and more protruding that the others.

Zer0 stood on it, staring at their feet. The guardian Zer0.

If only she could take a photo.

Continuing down the path, several statues of what she guessed were Eridians, towering above them they reached a pyramid similar to the one Leviathan protected. She would even get excited if it wasn’t for the corporation base attached next to its location, leeching off on it. The pair of them climbed it, reaching the top.   

Gaige couldn’t help but feel empty, as if she discovered the tallest mountain in the universe, climbed it and won nothing. With a huff of breath she sat on the edge of the top, staring down. Zer0 followed.

“Why did you bring me here?” She asked, not really waiting for an answer. She didn’t get one.

They just relaxed, winding down from the emotional strain they put themselves through that day

“My original name isn’t Zer0. The researchers referred to me as Calliope, after the Muse of epic poetry and head of the nine Muses.”

“That explains the haiku subroutine.” Gaige thought out loud.

Zer0 just laughed at that and continued, “I chose the name Zer0. Felt like it suited me.”

“It does,” Gaige smiled, “considering you _can’t_ be divided.”

Zer0 projected ‘LOL’ on their helmet while chuckling along with Gaige.  

-

They decided to set camp outside of the base, in the shack used as an entrance. Zer0 weirdly didn’t insist to return get back to Sanctuary which made her glad but also curious. Maybe Zer0 had other plans in mind. They hadn’t explored the base on its entirety and she doubted Zer0 would stay a second more in this place if it didn’t have something else to offer them.

The sun had begun to set, painting the tiny room orange. Turning the mattress upside down to use the least filthy side, she sat and flipped her backpack upside down, organizing its contents.

The food and water was enough for 2 cycles at best, considering Zer0 doesn’t eat. She had a book to pass the time before bed, her all of her tools organized and ready for use and her sleeping bag ready for use. Picking up her ECHO, she checked Deathtrap’s vitals, which were almost at peak condition. Considering he did some manual labor today and lent some of his power, his battery charge was still almost full. _‘I wonder if Zer0 needs to be charged.’_  

Once she was satisfied with the condition of her belongings, she gazed up towards Zer0, who sat on a three legged chair, with their weight shifted to the side. They were also doing their own maintenance, though on a gun. A pretty little Vladof pistol with an infinity symbol on its barrel.  

“Where did you find this?”

“Looted from some poor excuse of a bandit.”

They finished assembling it and passed it to Gaige’s hands. A splash of plum purple, black and aqua green with white accents, double barreled little beauty.

“What’s so special about it?” she said as she looked through its scope around the room.

“Infinite ammo, only one bullet in the magazine at all times.”

The redhead whistled and handed it back at them. They hesitated at taking it.

“I think it would be more useful to you.” Their tone was abnormally soft, while pushing the gun back into her hand.

“Nah, keep it, I don’t really need it.” She didn’t even know why she lied. Maybe the ;eftover of her manners were trying to show

“I insist.” They said, tilting their head to the side.

Gaige wasn’t sure if she was looking into their eyes, if they even _had_ eyes but her instinct said that she _was_ stared at. Blood rushed in her face, making her cheeks redder than they usually were.

“Um...Thanks. Thank you Zer0.” She felt incredibly stupid for mumbling. And of course Zer0 had to flash her a heart instead of saying ‘you’re welcome’ like a normal person.  

What the hell was that exchange? Whatever it was, it was stopped short.

_Bang._

Zer0 fell forward, hit by a bullet.

Gaige screamed with the gun her hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah sorry that this is so short but i had to stop it there. next up-atlas base. Yeehaw
> 
> also a lot of minor edits upcoming because i cant help obsessing over my mistakes . yuh. see yah!
> 
> i also shaved my head. lets hope that the shame of my ballsack head will keep me inside the house and ill spend more time on the fic


	3. Distance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry about the long wait, if anyone is waiting.  
> you know, exam period

She should have been used to this by now. Pandora is never safe, meaning _you_ are never safe.

She crawled towards Zer0’s fallen body. She flipped them over to examine the damage done, purple liquid leaking from the exit wound, burning at the leather on her gloves and her exposed fingertips. Their shoulder severed, hanging from 2 tubes and a bent piece of armor. Only a sniper rifle could do that kind of damage. _Shit._

“Don’t cover it with anything, it will stop on its own. Reach in my pocket for my digistruct chip, quick.”

Her fingers fumbled to open the pocket on the back of their belt. The liquid was spreading everywhere, but she managed to hand him the chip.

Gaige watched their shoulder get cauterized on its own, the slow stream of liquid freezing into a dark purple.

“They are not far, / The shot was sloppy; bandits, / It will take a sec.”

She saw a flashed “BRB” and then they vanished. Gaige was still frozen on the floor, gripping her own chip. She slid towards the window the shot came from and hiding her head she scoped out for the attackers. She turned her shield on as an afterthought.

“3 Bandit technicals, 283˚, they’re coming closer.” She said to the empty room, but she felt like Zer0’s presence hadn’t left the shack yet.

Her crosshair focused on the head of the bulkiest guy, who stupidly enough, didn’t think he’d need a helmet today. She tried to be as steady as possible, finger on the trigger. Calm and collected. 

She waited Zer0 to give her a sign, make a move, claim the first kill.

Any second now.

A subtle shadow, almost unnoticeable, hovered momentarily over one of the marauders. Just a flash of a blade and his head clean was off, despite not being able to wield two-handedly.

Her heart skipped a beat at the sight.

Once the number 0 was projected, her finger had moved involuntarily; before she knew it, the nomad’s head was splattered open and she had summoned Deathtrap.

“I want ’em bleeding and _crying_ ” She commanded him as she jumped out the window, the pistol she was gifted just minutes before firing towards any bandit on sight.

Bullets rained around her, her shield soaked with them, but not for much longer. She eyed Zer0 as she took cover behind a dumpster, also behind a technical, and they gave her a weak ok gesture with the hand that wasn’t blown away. Things weren’t looking that good, but there was always a way out. If there weren’t she wouldn’t have lived a day longer on Eden-5 than she did.

Gaige nodded and peeked at the bandits.

With eleven of them left, distracted by Deathtrap whose body was close to shutting down from the damage and with a severely wounded teammate there weren’t many choices. As much as she hated the thought, she had to do it.

“Dee-tee! _Blast ‘em_!” she screamed, emerging from behind her cover, shooting the explosive barrel on one of the trucks.

Deathtrap exploded like a supernova, not even having time to de-digistruct, but explosion was blinding and deafening. The impact of it had moved the dumpster just a tad, making Gaige cringe. She overdid it this time, really pushed Deathtrap to his limits. Poor thing would need a ton of repairs once they were back home. She pushed these thoughts aside to address the matter in hand.

She peeked once again after the fire had died down a little bit. As expected guts and gore everywhere, all of the technicals on fire on the little gas that remained. One of the most intact bodies was still grunting and crawling away from the scene. A lone survivor.

She run towards the bandit, quickly realizing his legs were torn off, femur shards and charred flesh dragging on blood soaked dirt. She had little time to interrogate, so she had to be quick.

“How did you come here,” she dug her boot on his back to stabilize him “ _Who_ sent you?”

He just screamed and cursed in agony. The girl from back in Eden-5 was terrified inside her. Her other boot stepped down her head to silence her.

“Answer me!”

His panting died down. So did his blood flow.

“Gaige.”

She fired at his skull to save him from the pain and stepped off the corpse. Her gaze met Zer0’s helmet and then their arm.

“Your shield wasn’t on.”

“I know.” Zer0 begun heading back to the bullet hole ridden shack.

“What now? Maybe they followed me, the car by the river. Maybe they already know where we are and they’re after the base.”

“I will first need to repair my arm or build another one.”

Oh. She had a very easy solution to that.

“You forget that I’m a mechanic that specializes in like, robots, right? And worst case scenario, we already have organ donors for that. Well; limb donors--”

“ _Not again_. I refuse/ to be treated like a frog/ meant for dissection.”

It should have been obvious to her that an android will not trust you after abusing another robot’s power and loyalty in front of them, no matter how good a mechanic you claim to be.

“I’m sorry.” 

Zer0 didn’t answer.

-

They descended down the base once again for Zer0 to fix themselves up and repair their arm, all the while Gaige brooding.

She didn’t know why she still stayed, or why Zer0 hadn’t told her to do so. She had nothing to do, to repair Deathtrap she would need tools and replacements she only had back in the garage, there was no mattress for her to lay down here and Zer0 had basically left her at the aircraft base, since the elevator wasn’t working.

So she wondered. She took the stairs next to the elevator and inspected the rows of aircrafts, some familiar to her, some… unknown.

At first she wasn’t even sure the first two rows were aircrafts. They looked like canoes. They were too tiny to be meant for flight, even though extremely aerodynamic.

She climbed in one of them careful not to press anything. The dust was thick on the terminal, but it was easy enough for her to find the ignition.

The engine was brought back to life after decades it seemed, but still, the purring was gentle but strong. A gear stick next to the ignition lit up green with a soft glow. She moved it to the first position. The whole vehicle floated easily and then—

Wings. This thing had wings! With boosters on them!  Yet it was so _light_. Gaige tried second gear in pure excitement.

The wings took a different position, as if they were diving downwards similar to a bird’s wings. Third gear was apparently to come to a halt, with the boosters helping.

 “Holy shit, that’s wicked.”

Gaige now knew what she would spend the night doing.

-

What she was doing was basically bootlegging, but she was _almost_ sure this piece on machinery was Eridian too, which Atlas had stolen but didn’t get a chance to pump it out in the markets. She had several names in mind for the avion; ‘Mockingbird’, ‘Leaf’ and ‘Hoverboat’ were all lame and/or tight-assed, so she settled on ‘N64C’ which one of her first ideas. Scattered notebook papers of blueprints on the trunk (where the engine was, ‘Neat!’) and on the floor where she sat cross-legged, illuminated only by her head band light.  

With one last note she laid down exhausted, but her head hit Zer0’s shins.  

“Wha- _Whoa_ there! How long have you been standing there?!”

She was just continued to be stared at.

“I don’t know a lot about manners, but my dad taught me not to fucking _stare_ , Zer0. That’s creepy.”

Zer0 shrugged with their newly repaired shoulder as if to say ‘tough luck’.

With a sigh Gaige continued, “I’m _really_ sorry about what happened earlier. I know we could have easily handled these guys, but I uh—I panicked. You were hit so I wanted this to be over without any more damage to the team. And I know that I was harsh of Dee-tee. Total dick move by me. No finesse either.”  

“You are forgiven, /considering you’re a child/ when it comes to war.”

She could argue, but they were right. She patted the concrete next to her for them to sit down as she grabbed the tobacco pouch by her thigh. Zer0 hesitantly sat next to her and she started rolling a cigarette. Horrible habit, but rolling helped a lot with the dexterity and motor skills on her cybernetic arm. It had been difficult at first, but she learned to tweak her joints and fingers better while upgrading them. It would also give her cancer after 30 years, if she survived that long on Pandora. She knew whose wife to blame. Damn, she missed Janey.

“Do androids fuck?” she exhaling smoke.

“No.”

“Oookay,” she said “I’m not hitting on you, if that’s what you’re thinking.”  She almost wished she could see Zer0 rolling their eyes.

“We were diplomats, /so I technically can, /but—

“No haiku” she cut them off.

“I fuck.”

“Zer0 _fuuucks_.” She drew out the word and laughed.

 “Vulgar.”

She was glad she managed to lighten up the mood. Before she knew it, she was rambling about N64C.

-

“We should head back.”

“Yeah, probably. Never told anyone I was leaving and Deathtrap needs to be fixed. Promise me we’ll come back though?”

“Depends.”

“On what? My grades and my good girl points?”

“Yes.”

Gaige groaned and organized the blueprints to pack up.

“Should we somehow hide this place? The ambush before is making me paranoid”

“I have installed surveillance on all the possible entrances. If anything happens I will know immediately.”  

They climbed up the ladder and begun their walk towards the river into the freezing night. Their guns were at the ready just in case they were attacked again, but nothing threatening appeared in the horizon. Once they reached water, Gaige asked Zer0 to bring the car to the other side of the river, because she didn’t want the get hypothermia and/or pneumonia.

Once in the Runner she jammed the USB again to fill in the silence that would inevitably come.  

The ride back to Sanctuary was the perfect chance for her to take a quick nap, since Zer0 was a careful but quick driver.

The last foggy memory she had before blanking out was passing the fast-travel station.

-

She woke up several hours later, gently shook by a hand on her shoulder. It was still dark so it was difficult to see Zer0’s helmet.

“Where are we?”

“Station to Sanctuary, sorry I woke you but we were running out of fuel”

“Why didn’t we get there earlier?” Gaige rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.

“You were sleeping.”

“I was just taking a nap Zer0, I wouldn’t mind you waking me up.” She explained while they entered the coordinates to the flying city.

They dematerialized first and Gaige followed.

Her feet touched the pavement and Zer0 was nowhere to be seen.

She headed towards Moxxi’s with a weary sigh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> n64c..... hm......
> 
> \--  
> thanks for reading. This was my first actual action scene  
> i even designed maps and the hovercraft thing, i had so much fun doing this. hope you enjoyed too.  
> i also did some chapter managing and minor edits.


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